THE LAST JEDI is Remarkably Similar to THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK

Share:

Editor’s note: The following post and video contain massive spoilers for The Last Jedi, so read at your own peril.

If you thought The Last Jedi was “too different” from the original Star Wars trilogy, then think again. While the common online criticism of The Last Jedi leading us too far afield from the Star Wars stories we know and love may be true from a certain point of view, it’s also factually inaccurate. The Star Wars prequel trilogy was made to rhyme with events and echo themes of the original trilogy, and now that Disney’s sequel trilogy is two films deep, we can see that it honors the legacy of the original films the same way that the prequels did. (And all without the aid of a certain bumbling Gungan senator.)

The similarities between The Last Jedi and The Empire Strikes Back are myriad. While the two films are separated by the span of nearly 40 years, the imagery and plot devices employed by both are too numerous to discount as mere coincidence. Allow us to explain:

Our subplots take us to faraway, exotic locales—Cloud City on Bespin and the casinos of Canto Bight—full of smooth-talking shysters—Lando Calrissian and the Master Codebreaker (and even D.J. to a certain extent)—where our heroes only manage to escape because their droids save their butts.

Luke and Rey confront Darth Vader and Kylo Ren, respectively. We even get a callback to Return of the Jedi in the turbolift to Snoke’s throne room when Rey implores Kylo Ren to turn back to the light, just as Luke did to his father decades earlier.

Then there’s the big lightsaber fight. After all is said and done, Darth Vader and Kylo Ren offer Luke and Rey the chance to rule the galaxy by their sides. They also reveal huge secrets about both characters’ parentage.

While Rey doesn’t get dismembered, both scenes pretty much end up the same way as both Luke and Rey refuse to join and rule the galaxy. By the end of the film, our heroes are batter, changed, and barely holding on, but they’re ready to keep fighting and hopeful for the future.

Of course they aren’t. The Last Jedi gives us fresh twists and turns, sending the franchise heading off in an entirely new direction, but the same Midi-chlorians that make up Star Wars‘ DNA are still present in The Last Jedi.

But what do you think? Does The Last Jedi mirror the events of The Empire Strikes Back and the original trilogy, or is this just an elaborate coincidence? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.